Cove Springs
by star
Summary: Lisa is staying with her aunt to avoid a certain someone. While she's there, she meets up with old friends in a town that supposedly never changes. But things definitely change when friends become more and enemies grow to something else. CH 6 EDITED!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Why must we always do these stupid things? I mean, no one's going to sue us. I'm in a rebellious mood. **

**Oh fine, I don't own Red Eye. Otherwise this story's mine. **

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**Chapter 1**

"Here, let me help you with that." A portly middle-aged woman rushed towards Lisa Reisart. She had curly brown hair of an improbable shade and a pair of cat-eye glasses. Lisa got a firmer grip on the heavy box in her arms. "Nah, I'm fine, thanks Annie." Annie Finley hurried forwards again to hold open the front door of her large Victorian-styled house.

"I'm so glad you're here," Annie said enthusiastically. "I finally get to spend some time with my favorite niece!"

Lisa smiled. "Where should I put this box?" Her aunt turned and led her up the staircase and to a large bedroom at the end of the hallway. When Lisa stepped in, she was assaulted with pink. There was a pink bedspread with pink pillows, a pink-painted vanity, and the wallpaper depicted pink butterflies hovering over pink flowers. Lisa inwardly groaned. This was the room she had had since she was a kid, and she might've liked it then, but now… Typical of Annie to keep things the same. "Um, you know what, I think I'm just going to rest for a while, the drive up here was horrible." Lisa bent and set the box down on the ground.

"Oh. Oh, alright, well I will just be downstairs, dear. I'll help you bring in the rest of your things later, okay?" Annie gave her an impulsive hug and Lisa laughed.

When the door had shut behind her aunt, Lisa slowly collapsed down on the bed. Everything was just as it had been. It seemed like this place never changed. Lisa stared at her reflection in the mirror of the pink vanity.

The whole reason Lisa had come to her aunt's house was to escape from what Charles Keefe called, "Suspected attempts on her life." Not that anything had happened. But since Jackson had escaped from the hospital, it seemed that everyone in Lisa's life had been on high alert—except for her. After the events of that hellish red eye flight, Lisa had waited for… something. She felt like she should feel the way she had after she had been raped. But she didn't. There was a word for it.

Triumphant.

Lisa had won. She had defeated Jackson Rippner, and if that wasn't proof that she really was a strong person, then she didn't know what was. The weak Lisa that hid in her house and was a loner was gone, replaced with a more confident Lisa. There was finally closure.

But, as they say, when one door closes, another door opens.

The aftermath of the red eye was a whole lot of lies and cover ups. Lisa Reisart had actually never met Jackson Rippner, and the man who was responsible for sending him to the hospital with multiple punctures and bullet wounds was actually one of Charles Keefe's bodyguards. This lie kept the media away from Lisa, for which she was extremely grateful. The man lying dead in front of her house was the product of a nasty accident.

And so a month passed in which Lisa, her father, and Cynthia were quite comfortable.

Three days into the second month after the red eye, Lisa received the phone call. Charles Keefe requested her presence. A car would be coming for her shortly. Jackson Rippner had escaped from the hospital.

Lisa remembered hanging up the phone and sitting down on the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees and simply staring somewhere into the distance. She had been able to put Jackson from her mind quite completely, until he was just a sort of dark shape. But now suddenly she could see him again and she didn't like it.

Keefe had told her in a worried voice that Yes, Jackson had managed to escape from the hospital and there were unfortunately no leads on where he was. It would be better if she decided to stay away from any of the places she normally frequented for a while, in case Mr. Rippner was bent on any ideas of revenge. Yes, that meant no work. Yes, she could tell her father and Cynthia, but no one else.

At first Lisa had shook her head and told him that she was perfectly capable of protecting herself, finding the idea of Jackson coming to search for her ridiculous. After all she had done to him she doubted that he would even want to be near her. Good. So Keefe gave her a week to 'think about it'.

A week in which Lisa would catch herself remembering Jackson and thinking about him. Worrying slightly that Keefe was right. Worrying more about the odd twinge she got in her stomach when she remembered the man from the Tex Mex. Lisa agreed to leave.

She stared at the ceiling above her and sighed. Lisa hopped off the bed and went downstairs and to the kitchen, where Annie was making pancakes. Annie lived on pancakes. "I'm gonna go get the rest of my stuff."

"Alright, dear, here, let me help you… Oh shoot, stupid pancakes, just a minute…"

Lisa laughed and felt a weight begin to lift off of her shoulders. She would be safe here. Jackson and the events of the red eye were gone and done with. "It's okay," she went out the kitchen door and towards her car. Annie lived in a neighborhood of old homes, a white picket fence separating her from the neighbors on the right and a hibiscus hedge separating her from the neighbors on the left. The sun was setting, bathing the sky pink, and Lisa could hear the sprinklers in the neighbor's yard. She watched an old station wagon pass by on the street. She heaved her bag over her shoulder and went back to the house.

Annie was seated at the table and dousing her pancakes with blackberry syrup. There was a plate sitting at the spot next to her, which Lisa gratefully slid into, leaving her luggage by the door. Another hit of familiarity—the plate was the same flowered one Lisa had used since she was about six. "So," began Annie. "Tell me about this Jackson Ripper my brother has told me so much about." Annie's brother was Lisa's father.

"It's Rippner," Lisa said tersely. She poked at the pancakes in front of her.

"Oh. Well, I heard what they put on the news, and you know they didn't even mention you, but Joe says you had a huge role in it! And I do love that Keefe man, so handsome…"

Lisa's head jerked up and she gave her aunt a scandalized look. "Earl!" she jerked her head towards the urn sitting on the shelf.

Annie shrugged. They both looked away and then back at each other, Lisa trying to hide the twitch of her lips. Annie started it. Soon they were both laughing, an almost bitter joke. Earl had been Annie's husband for twenty-five years, but had died of a sudden heart attack five years ago. Mourners in the form of women Annie—and supposedly Earl—had never met answered the suspicion that had been there all along. Earl Finley had been far from faithful.

Rolling her eyes, Annie sighed. "I honestly don't know why I still have that dumb thing. You know, since you're here, I think we should finally spread his ashes somewhere. Get rid of the dang things."

"I agree. Maybe we could pour them in a swamp."

Annie chuckled appreciatively. She shoved the last of her pancakes in her mouth and leaned back against the chair. "You still haven't told me about this awful Jackson."

Lisa accidentally bit her cheek. "Ah, hasn't my dad already told you?"

"Bits and pieces. Probably only what you told him. You didn't tell him very much."

"There's really not that much. I met a guy on the plane, he told me that if I didn't change Keefe's room he would kill Dad, I stabbed a pen in his throat. He followed me to my house and tried to kill me and Dad. Keefe changed it all around and made it look like I really didn't do anything." Lisa pressed her tongue to the cut inside her cheek. The iron-y taste of blood made her take a big gulp of water.

Annie surveyed her niece skeptically. There was more to this and she knew it. "Well, you can stay here as long as you need to until they find that psycho." She got up and began washing her dish, pausing to grab Lisa's. "I was thinking that tonight we could go walk around town, we could go to that ice cream place you love."

"Sam's?"

"Of course."

"Okay! Let me just go change." Annie smiled as she heard her niece run around the corner and thump up the stairs. It was nice to have the house filled with her happy presence. Annie lifted a wet dish from the sink and towards the dish rack next to her. It was slippery and slid to the tips of her fingers. Annie thought she could still hold onto it and in slow motion, the dish slipped further and further… With a crash it hit the floor.

Annie stared at it dumbly, the broken pieces of china surrounded by a fine dust and smaller sharp pieces. An ominous sense of foreboding came over her and she realized her fingernails had been digging into her hand quite sharply.

Lisa bounced into the kitchen, her purse in her hand. "Oh, you dropped my plate! I hate it when that happens. I'll clean it up." Annie gazed at her niece's back. That's right, that had been Lisa's plate…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lisa cleaned up the mess of her plate and then both niece and aunt climbed into Lisa's car and headed towards the central part of town. Cove Springs was a small town in northern Florida and was the sort that could either drive you crazy or make you laugh, because everyone knew everyone else's business. That was the reason Lisa had stopped visiting after the rape. But as she looked out the window and saw the curious glances her unrecognized car got, Lisa had a feeling that this time the closeness would be endearing.

For the first hour, Lisa and Annie walked around and looked in shops, Annie re-introducing her niece to everyone in general and Lisa feeling a bit like a bug under a magnifying glass. She pushed this feeling away though. Loner Lisa was gone. Finally they stopped in front of Sam's ice cream and Lisa collapsed down in a booth. She stared out the window while she waited for her aunt to come back with the ice cream cones. It was their tradition. Annie always surprised her with a different ice cream flavor.

Lisa pressed her forehead against the cool glass. Her aunt appeared with the cones and she sat up straighter and smiled. "Oh, I forgot!" Annie exclaimed around a mouth full of ice cream. "I've got to go to the grocery store, get some more food for you. Can't expect you to live on pancakes."

- - - -

Jackson Rippner really didn't like his life right now. His company had pulled him from the hospital, made him hope that he would be forgiven for the catastrophic mistake he had made. And then he had been fired.

He supposed he should be grateful for not being killed. The imminent threat of death if he said anything was there, though. It would take about a year for them to finally forget about him. The only reason he had been taken from the hospital was to keep the authorities from getting information from him. Briefly, he considered getting another job with one of his connections, but he knew that he probably was blacklisted by now._ Good work ethic…_ _Had his ass kicked by a woman with a pen… _He could see his references already.

Never had Jackson been more aware of his own inconsequentiality.

All thoughts of his missing job had driven Lisa Reisart to the very back of his mind. Jackson had bought a house in northern Florida with the money saved from his old job, Florida just popping into his head from some unconscious source. Maybe the back of his mind. He had wallowed for a day, feeling lost and powerless, wandering around his new two-bedroom, one bathroom house. _Tiny._ And then the threat of what was soon to be a penniless Jackson came crashing down and he realized he needed to get a job. He had gotten a scholarship to college and a degree in law, amazingly, before he became an assassin. But Jackson really had no interest in being a lawyer. The twisting of words was the only attraction in that job.

Jackson had gone to get groceries with the last twenty he had, being afraid to draw anything else from his sorely depleted bank account. When did houses get so damn expensive? Then he saw the 'Help wanted' sign at the grocery store.

He was now a proud cashier of Mark's Grocery, location 137 Avenue Northeast, Cove Springs, Florida. Whoopee.

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Lisa wandered around the bread aisle of Mark's Grocery. Her aunt had told her to get the store brand, but for the life of her, she couldn't find it. Finally giving up, she sighed and went to one of the checkout counters. "Can you tell me where the store brand kind of bread is?" A tall, tanned man with blond curly hair stood behind the counter. He walked out and towards the bread aisle and then stopped.

"Lisa?"

_Oh great. Another person who knows me._ "Er… Hello." _Wait a minute… _"Jake?"

"Where have you been all this time?" Jake grinned and gave her an impulsive hug. Lisa stepped back and laughed, shocked. Jake was her old friend from summers she had spent with her aunt. They had been neighbors and close friends, and Lisa had wondered what happened to Jake after she stopped coming to Cove Springs.

"I've been in Miami! I work as office-manager of the Luxe Atlantic. What're you doing working here?"

He made a fake insulted face. "You've gotten snobby, Miss Lisa Reisart. This is a perfect place to work." He started walking down the bread aisle and Lisa followed him.

Jackson stared across the grocery store. That couldn't be—There was no way. Lisa Reisart? What was she doing here? In his eight weeks of stalker duty, Jackson had noticed Lisa barely even leave Miami. He felt a queer little flip in his stomach. He narrowed his eyes and watched her exchange with Jake, the express checkout guy. Jackson decided that Jake was a pushy annoying bastard. Why was he hugging her? And why did she seem so happy? He watched them walk off down the aisle.

Well, maybe it wasn't Lisa. It probably wasn't. Whatever.

A fake-baked, overly made-up woman came up to Jackson's checkout counter. "Honey, can you tell me where the ice cream aisle is? I just can't find it anywhere." She drawled out her A's so that they sounded like 'aaah'.

"My name's Jackson."

"Oh. Aaahl-right, sure, Jaaahck-son."

Jackson closed his eyes. Grocery cashiers did not give customers dirty looks. Why was he always getting hit on by older women? Was there something wrong with him? Stupid Jake never had that happen to him… Jackson's eyes snapped open. "Ice cream's to your right," he said curtly. Fake-bake woman looked slightly annoyed but went off.

Before she knew it, Lisa had spent thirty minutes talking to Jake, while he bounced the loaf of bread up and down in his hands and she leaned against the shelves. Finally, when her laughter had subsided and they had begun that staring into the distance thing that happens when you have just learned about a past you weren't apart of, and it's time to talk about the present, Lisa jumped. "My aunt! I've gotta go; she's probably waiting for me." Jake looked ruefully at the squished loaf of bread in his hands.

"You still want it?" He held it out to her. Lisa laughed.

"Call me, okay? I'm at my aunt's house. Hey, do you know who moved into your old house?"

Jake shrugged. "Nope. Hey," He reached out and held Lisa's shoulder, looking earnestly down into her eyes. She felt an odd pang when she realized that they weren't blue. "If you ever get tired of Miami, you know, all that hustle and bustle and new cars, come back up here, okay?"

Lisa smiled and fought back the need for Jake to remove his hand. "I'll remember that. It was nice seeing you again."

Jake stood for awhile in the middle of the bread aisle, watching Lisa's retreating back, a sort of dreamy smile on his face.

Lisa ran back to her car, where her aunt was sitting inside and talking on her cell phone. "Sorry I took so long," she mouthed. Annie smiled and nodded and went on talking. Something about a recipe for strawberry banana pancakes. Lisa fumbled for her keys and had the odd sense of eyes on her. She looked up and through the store window in front of her.

With a tingle of something in her stomach, Lisa's breath caught. A man was watching her from behind the counter of a checkout, a man with brown hair that sort of flipped out at the ends and the bluest eyes Lisa had ever seen. _Jackson…_ And then he jerked his head away and the connection was broken. Shaken, Lisa started the car and headed home.

Jackson yanked his 'Mark's Grocery' apron over his head and balled it up and threw into the back seat of his car. It was nine o'clock and he wanted to go to bed. He drove down the street and towards his new house. Something caught his eye and he slowed. Lisa's car was parked in front of a Victorian-style house.

No, that wasn't Lisa's car.

Jackson's eyes darted to her license plate. He closed his eyes and opened them again. And then he stepped on the gas pedal and floored it to his house, only three homes away from the house Lisa Reisart was staying in. He leapt from his car and ran into his house, slamming the door behind him.

He should kill her, that's what he should do. She had ruined his career, sent him to the hospital, nearly killed him. He would kill her. Cold fury began to surge and then was washed out by logic.

No, no, he couldn't kill her. His company would only kill him if he drew attention to his identity. But that didn't stop him wanting to kill her.

A little uncomfortable voice of the logic that Jackson prided himself on said, "Well, it was kind of your fault."

But how? When did it stop being her fault that his life had become so fucked up and start being his? The little voice pointed out that this whole thing could've been avoided if Jackson hadn't started killing people for money in the first place. But Jackson thought of why he had started that life and stopped. God, he thought he had killed the part of him that still held the ability to feel. It should be dead, dead beside the others he had killed. But now it looked like Jackson had been deceived. The gift of humanity was still in him, only had been lying dormant for five years. Jackson shut his eyes tightly. She would be so disappointed in him if she knew what he had become.

But she was dead. And she couldn't see him.

Emotions were so much safer abandoned. Lisa Reisart had somehow brought them back. How? Jackson would never have followed someone to their house and tried to kill them normally. That could be arranged later, along with a redo of the Keefe assassination.

How did she do it? And why did he feel an odd admiration for her?

With an escape from the harsh climate that was Jackson's old job, old life, the seed began to crack open. Jackson sank down to the carpet and buried his face in his hands. He dug his nails into his skin until he could feel something wet. But physical pain wouldn't save him now.

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Please tell me what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you sooo much for all of the wonderful reviews! They make me so happy, please please keep it up!**

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Chapter 3**

Humming, Lisa stepped into the shower. She let the hot water pour down her back and sighed happily. The smell of raspberry shampoo filled the air. It was like being on summer vacation again after a long year of school. Not having a job was so freeing. Lisa stepped from the shower and stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes fell on her scar and she sighed. She took one finger and covered it up. _What if…?_

Lisa shook her head and got dressed, rummaging through the box in her room for her blow dryer. Her aunt left for a book club outing to the art museum in Landon in about five minutes, at eleven thirty, and so Lisa would have the house to herself for the day. She heard the doorbell ring.

"I've got it!" called Annie. Lisa smiled to herself. She hoped that she was this popular when she was sixty years old. An uncomfortable little twinge in the back of her mind doubted it.

She heard murmurings from downstairs and then her aunt came back up the stairs. "Just the grocery clerk," Annie said from across the hallway. Lisa sat up straighter. Did that mean Jake? She checked her reflection in the mirror of the pink vanity. Her hair was still slightly wet and was curling in the humidity, and she had her favorite blue t-shirt on.

She needed lunch anyways…

Lisa entered the kitchen and saw someone standing by the shelves with their back to her. She noticed that he had brown hair and not blond. Oh well. "Hello," she said as she walked over to the bag of bread sitting on the counter and opened it. "Thank you for bringing this, I completely forgot to buy it yesterday. Did Jake send you over here?" She shoved two slices of bread in the toaster and opened the fridge, searching for orange juice.

Jackson turned around and gazed at Lisa. She straightened up with the carton of juice in her hands, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Hey, Leese."

Lisa jumped. Her eyes fixed on him and then she closed them. She was seeing things. She opened them again and he was still standing there, a bit closer, in fact. His brown hair was parted on the side and some had fallen along his forehead. "No," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you bread. Your friend Jake told me that you never got to buy it yesterday."

Lisa didn't think. She wanted him gone. Her grip tightened around the carton in her hands. "Stay away from me."

Jackson's eyes twinkled. "No."

Lisa threw the orange juice carton at him as hard as she could. Orange juice went everywhere, soaking Jackson's shirt, sending little drips up the walls, creating a huge puddle on the floor. For a moment Jackson just stood there, sputtering. Lisa gazed in shock at the huge mess she had created. And then Jackson's eyes opened.

And Lisa realized that she really should've been much more afraid.

With a growl, Jackson stepped towards her. Lisa took one look at him and fled towards the stairs.

"Lisa," came a menacing voice behind her. She opened her mouth to scream and instead felt the wind knocked out of her as Jackson dove at her ankle and both tumbled down the stairs. Stars popped in front of her eyes as they finally stopped moving. Lisa felt something warm and slightly sticky and wet underneath her. She opened her eyes and stared down into Jackson's blue ones and realized she was lying on top of him. Her stomach flipped over.

Lisa leapt up and began to start towards the front door. Jackson grabbed her ankle and pulled her back down to the ground again. He yanked her towards him and she kicked out with her other foot. She hit him in the shoulder and he grunted. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up while she continued to try to batter him with her other fist. Lisa opened her mouth again to scream and he roughly grabbed her chin and covered her mouth with his hand. Lisa brought her elbow back and hit him in the stomach. Jackson grunted and wrapped his arm around her waist, pinning her arms down and forcing her against his chest. She felt a zip fly up through her stomach and to somewhere in her lungs, making her breathing heavy.

A creak at the top of the stairs alerted them both to Annie's presence. Jackson began to back up and towards the kitchen, pulling a fiercely struggling Lisa after him. "Tell your aunt goodbye, Leese," Jackson hissed in her ear. He could smell her raspberry shampoo and let his mouth linger by her ear. She shivered and shook her head wildly. He dug his fingers into her chin and forced her to nod, up and down. "Yes," he hissed.

"Bye, Lisa, I'm leaving now!" Annie called from by the front door. "I'll see you at around eight, okay?" Lisa could hear the jingle of her keys and struggled wildly.

"Answer her, Leese." Jackson moved his hand from her mouth and let it slide down to her throat, which he squeezed gently. Lisa swallowed. "Bye," she called weakly. The door shut behind her aunt and Lisa closed her eyes against the prickle of tears.

"Good," Jackson said. He abruptly released her and Lisa leapt away. Open air greeted her, no warm hard chest behind her anymore.

Lisa spun around to face Jackson. Her green eyes glinted and she pursed her lips. "Get out of this house," she said in a dangerously low voice. She backed towards the counter and fumbled for something sharp. Something like a butcher knife.

"Geez, Leese. Shouldn't you know not to bite the hand that feeds?" Jackson's eyes twinkled at his own joke.

Lisa continued to feel for something behind her. Finally her hand closed around the handle of something and she yanked it out and brandished it in front of her. Jackson looked at what she held in her hand and his lips twitched. Lisa's gaze fell to what she was holding and Jackson wished he had a picture of that moment. Lisa was holding a spatula. "Aagh!" She threw it at him. He caught it.

"Actually, I bet you could make a weapon out of that," he commented dryly.

"Oh, go away," she rubbed at her sore chin. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I work at a _grocery_ store."

"Good for you. What, did you lose your day job?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Oh. Your superiors weren't proud that you got a pen shoved in your throat?" Lisa's voice was mocking him now and Jackson didn't like it. He took a threatening step towards her.

"Ooh, Lisa Reisart, I have missed you."

"Go to hell." Lisa refused to back down. If he was going to kill her, she would go down fighting. She took a step towards him, refusing to let him back her into a corner.

"Been there, done that." Jackson took another step towards her. Lisa matched his step and stared stubbornly up at him, her big green eyes fierce. He felt suddenly like grabbing her and pulling her hair until she screamed, kissing her parted little mouth until it was swollen and bruised. She was so close that Jackson could feel her breath on his chin when she talked. He watched her lips as she spoke.

"I'm waiting," Lisa whispered.

Jackson's eyes flicked from her mouth to her eyes and back again. "For what?" he tilted his head so that his lips nearly brushed hers. He licked his lips. She was so warm, so alive, and he could feel her shiver.

"You're going to kill me."

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Why else would you come here?"

"I--" Jackson inhaled and watched the way Lisa's lips remained parted. He remembered what had happened in that airplane restroom, only now it was by choice that she was so close to him. "I brought you bread."

"Is it poisoned?"

"No," Jackson breathed. His hands reached up for her face and he leaned closer, his mouth searching for hers. But she had turned around.

Lisa stared at the giant mess of the kitchen, her heart pounding.

"So, am I supposed to believe that you really are just here by chance, working at a grocery store?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Leese. I didn't come here for you."

"You really came here to bring me bread?" Lisa asked in disbelief.

"No."

Lisa whirled around again. "Okay, fine, you know what, Jackson? I'm not going to play these stupid little games with you. God, you come here, make a huge mess of my aunt's kitchen…"

"Hey, you were the one that threw the orange juice at me."

"Aagh!" Lisa squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Just go away! Remember what you said in the airport? You'd leave me at the Starbucks and let me move on with my life? So, Mr. I Never Lie, is there a reason you haven't let me do that yet? Go away!"

"Lisa, that was only if you made the call."

"I did make the damn call!"

"And then you stabbed me and ran off!"

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry I didn't let you kill an innocent man. I'm calling the police. There's a murderer in my house." Lisa reached for the phone and Jackson grabbed her wrist and jerked it away.

"No!"

"Then leave," Lisa hissed.

Jackson looked from her to the phone. He reached over and ripped the cord from the wall. "It's called a cell phone, Jack," Lisa said sarcastically. He just looked at her. "Honestly, why are you so eager to be in my company? I could send you to the hospital again, you know."

"And I could kill your aunt."

For a moment, Lisa paled. And then, "With whose help? You're fired, remember?"

"I have certain connections," Jackson bluffed.

Lisa wrenched her wrist out of his grip. "I hate you," she hissed. "I wish you were dead."

"Touching."

Lisa went to the cupboard around the corner and pulled a mop and a bucket from it. She filled the bucket with water and began to mop up the orange juice on the floor. Wordlessly, Jackson grabbed a towel and began to wipe the juice off the walls. Lisa muttered something under her breath.

"What?" Jackson asked sharply.

"So Jackson Rippner has a domestic side," Lisa snapped. Jackson glared at her.

"And Lisa Reisart has a bitchy side."

"Get out!" Lisa slammed the mop down on the ground. "Get out right now!" Jackson calmly wiped a drip from the wall, set the towel down, and smiled at Lisa.

"Nice seeing you again." And then he walked out the door. Lisa stared after him, her teeth gritted, with the annoying feeling that he had somehow gained the upper hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews, I can't thank you guys enough. I'm trying to make the chapters longer and longer. I think this one is a bit.

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**Chapter 4**

Jackson drove back to Mark's Grocery mechanically. For once, he truly had to admit that he really had no idea what he was doing. What had been the point of that whole confrontation? But did life have to have a point; did everything always have to be so perfectly planned out? The past five years had been. And it was boring.

Jake walked up to Jackson when he came back. "Geez, you took quite a while over at Lisa's," he tried to make his tone light but Jackson could see the suspicion in his eyes. He smirked.

"Yeah, me and Lisa go way back."

"Er, well… Thanks for taking the bread over, I was gonna do it," Jake said awkwardly.

"No problem." Jackson walked over to his register and retied his apron. He could feel Jake's eyes on him and ignored it. What a loser. Lisa deserved better.

- - - -

Lisa slapped the sponge across the counters. Damn Jackson. Was Keefe right? Was he here to kill her? Then why hadn't he? Lisa felt a shiver when she realized what a perfect opportunity he had had. She went and dumped the bucket of water outside and leaned the mop against the small veranda. For a moment Lisa stared out across the street, feeling the nostalgia of the view of the same houses she had seen as a child, the same trees, the same street. The house phone jingled from inside.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lisa, it's Jake."

Lisa stood up straighter. "Hey! Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"I'm on lunch break. I was wondering… if… Would you feel like going to see a movie sometime?"

Lisa took the phone away from her ear and looked at it. There was a pause and then Jake said hurriedly, "Okay, sorry, that was really… I just meant, you know, we're friends and, well, if that was too soon…"

Lisa wasn't listening. A man in an airport line, _Save you a seat…_ "Yes, yes, sure, that sounds like fun," Lisa said suddenly.

"Okay!" came Jake's obviously relieved voice. "Great, I'll pick you up at seven on Saturday, okay?"

"Okay."

"See you later. I'll call you."

"Okay, bye Jake."

Lisa slowly set the phone down. There was nothing wrong with this. She knew Jake, she could trust him. Lisa felt her spirits lighten again. She bounced over to the cupboards for a can of soup. There was no way she was using that bread.

Jake looked up when he felt eyes on him. Jackson was standing in the doorway of the employee lounge and Jake had a feeling that he had just heard all of his conversation with Lisa.

"Hot date on Saturday, Jake?" Jackson moved over to the tiny fridge and took his lunch from it.

Jake cracked a nervous smile. "Yep. Lisa Reisart. I thought I'd never get to see her again."

_Me too._ "So… Where are you guys going? There's not much to do here."

Jake looked insulted. "I'm taking her to the drive-in theatre."

"Oh." Jackson nodded and went back to eating, but Jake had the feeling that he found him sort of stupid.

"Well…" Jake began uncomfortably. "We've finally found another cashier so you don't have to work a double shift anymore. You can leave at three now." Jackson nodded but Jake saw him stiffen, and he wondered, not for the first time, why Jackson was desperate enough for money to work at a grocery store. He just didn't seem like the type…

When Jackson drove home that day, it was to find his mind flip flopping. Lisa was tumbled around in there, for he had believed he would never see her again, and now he had touched her, she had lay on top of him, even… Well, she had fallen on top of him. Whatever. And then the other, practical half of his brain wondered what he would do without the extra money from the double shift. Money had never been an object before and Jackson wished he would've saved more of it. He should've known the fickleness of his job.

- - - -

Sunlight slowly peeked from the horizon, bathing Cove Springs in pink, casting the shadows from the palm trees and glinting off windows.

"Lisa… Lisa, wake up."

Lisa slowly opened her eyes to see her aunt bent over her. "I'm going to my friend Bette's house. I'll be back by five, okay? You can come if you want."

Lisa shook her head sleepily. "No, no, I'm fine."

"Okay." Annie smiled at her. "There're pancakes in the fridge, you only need to heat them up. Have a good day, lazybones." Lisa watched her leave and then rolled over on her side and stared out the window at the sunny day. Her date with Jake was in two days. When had she last had a date? Lisa sighed and got up and headed for the shower.

- - - -

Glancing at the clock, Lisa yawned and turned off the TV. Three p.m. already. Honestly, when did soaps become so boring? They were absolutely ridiculous lately. Lisa got off the couch and decided that she would go take a walk. She locked the door behind her and set off down the driveway, taking a right at the end of it. She passed the house with the picket fence and two little girls running through a sprinkler waved to her, in between screaming and laughing. Lisa waved back and grinned.

Three houses down from hers she stopped. This was Jake's old house. Lisa looked at the now weedy flowerbeds and dry yellow lawn. She remembered when she would spend practically every day at his house, running over when her parents would start a particularly hateful fight. A year after the second summer she had come to visit her aunt her parents had stopped coming with her. A very faint pang hit her, dulled with time, and she blinked at the house.

Well, it looked deserted. The For Sale sign was still up. Lisa took a step forwards and then stopped. What was she thinking? But she could just go into the house and take a quick peek. The reckless part of Lisa took over and whispered that the old, loner Lisa would never do this. And Lisa never wanted to become as boring, as lonely, as she had used to be, so she started towards the house. Jake would laugh when she told him that she had snuck back into his old empty house.

Lisa took a quick peek over her shoulder and tried the doorknob. Locked. Well, duh. She slipped around to the back of the house and pulled at the sliding glass door. It opened easily and Lisa slipped inside.

The SOLD sticker tumbled through the tall grass by the sign in the slight breeze and rolled over to the sidewalk.

Lisa walked around the living room where she used to watch movies and spill popcorn with Jake as an eleven year-old. She felt another pang. It took something, this house, this place, Cove Springs, that forever stayed the same to really realize how much she had changed. Hadn't someone famous said something like that?

Lisa remembered she had had the biggest crush on Will Binkly in seventh grade. Binkly. What a name. Lisa stepped over to the corner of the room where a dark stain spread across the carpet. Jake had spilled an entire soda there during… well, some laughing fit or other. Lisa smiled as she looked at it. She stepped into the kitchen around the corner. Hmm, Jake had left his fridge here. Odd.

Lisa continued on to the hallway that led to the two bedrooms. She walked into Jake's and looked around. There was a desk sitting in the back of the room and Lisa walked over to it. Why had Jake left his desk behind? A very faint alarm bell began to sound in the back of her brain, but Lisa ignored it _…paranoid…_ and moved on to the next room across the hall. She got in and stopped.

There was an unmade bed and luggage bag sitting on the ground. Lisa blinked and looked around. Was there someone squatting in Jake's house? The For Sale sign was still up! Just in case, Lisa decided that she had better leave. She had felt sort of daring before but now she felt like a psycho. Wandering around in her old friend's house… She started towards the bedroom door and then stopped. A picture of a beautiful woman with familiar blue eyes was sitting on the bedside table. Lisa went over to it and picked it up, her brain screaming at her to leave. She looked so familiar…

"Having fun?"

Lisa jumped so much that she almost dropped the picture on the ground. She felt a hand grip her arm and spin her around. "Give me that," Jackson snapped. He wrenched the picture out of her hand.

"I thought the house was empty…" Lisa cursed her trembling voice. Jackson's eyes jumped from the picture to Lisa. She wished her anger would come back from yesterday but fear and shock had overwhelmed it.

"So tell me, Leese, do you normally wander around houses that aren't yours?" Jackson forcefully set the picture down on the table.

"I'm sorry," Lisa said weakly. "This used to be my friend Jake's house, I just wanted to… I mean, I thought it was empty, I didn't know…"

"Ah, Jake," Jackson's eyes were fixed on her face now and Lisa found herself backing away. He honestly had no idea what made him say what he said next. "He's a jealous bastard. You could do better."

Lisa's mouth dropped open, shocked. "Okay…" she said awkwardly, her eyes sliding to the ground. Jackson grit his teeth.

"No, I mean it."

Lisa brought her eyes up to Jackson's and was met with an odd intensity there. "Who is she?" she asked desperately, pointing to the photograph. Jackson jerked around.

"My mother," he answered in a clipped voice. "She's dead."

"I'm… sorry," Lisa said softly.

Jackson turned around again and looked at her. Lisa looked up. He stepped closer until she could feel the warmth from his body, so near her. They stood so close together, neither touching each other, Jackson with his fists clenched. Lisa could feel herself slowing melting, closer and closer into his blue eyes. Before her eyes fluttered shut, she could see Jackson's fist unclench and reach towards her and then stop.

Jackson leaned in and Lisa felt his nose brush hers. Her eyes opened and Jackson leaned in again, tipping his head the other way and tilting his chin forwards, and fireworks popped in front of Lisa's eyes so brightly that she stepped back. Jackson opened his eyes and looked at her, his lips parted, and Lisa realized that his hand was at her arm, just grazing her arm, and she felt the skin underneath it seem to cry out.

"I…" Lisa shook her head helplessly. Jackson watched her for a moment, his eyes welling with unspoken emotion, emotion that Lisa would never have imagined in Jackson Rippner.

"You're a coward, Lisa Reisart," he said harshly.

Lisa watched him, confused now, disappointed, and unable to admit it.

"What're you gonna do on your date with Jakey, run away when he tries to hold your hand?" Jackson mocked.

"How do y—? Shut up," Lisa said quietly. But Jackson wasn't done yet.

"Leese, remember what you told me Henrietta said? 'Always look forward'? Have you started practicing that yet? I don't think you have."

Lisa searched her mind for something biting to say, but she couldn't find anything. She felt her eyes prickle.

Lisa put her hands up and pushed Jackson backwards so that he stumbled, biting her lip hard and refusing to let the ashamed tears fall. He stopped talking and let her push him, again and again, until he had backed out of the bedroom door and into the hallway. He grabbed her arms then and stopped her.

"No more, Leese."

"Yes, more," she said over the lump in her throat. "Just kill me already. Keefe said that you would come after me, after you escaped from the hospital. Just stop being so cruel and get it over with."

"Oh Leese, I'm not going to kill you. I never came here to kill you."

"Why are you here!"

Jackson shook her shoulders. "I bought a house here! That's all! Simple! I got fired! I'm like every other poor jobless sod in the universe!"

"Except your old job was murdering people."

Jackson turned his head to the side and took a deep breath and then looked back at Lisa again. "Yes, you've mentioned that. Get over it."

"No. You should be in jail."

"Lisa, there are people that have done just as bad things as I have, worse, and they're not in jail."

Lisa shrugged out of his grip on her shoulders and turned and began to walk down the hallway. Jackson grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Come on," he said. "Don't I deserve a chance to start over again like everyone else?" he smiled. Lisa looked at him for a moment, and then pulled her hand from his and walked away again.

"Leese!" Jackson ran forwards to her. "Leese, come on… Don't call the cops on me. Don't make me do something I'll regret."

Lisa laughed. "You don't regret anything."

And that was when Jackson head butted her.

When Lisa woke up, it was to find herself tied to a chair with a piece of duct tape over her mouth. Her head was pounding and she tried to focus on a way of escape. Jackson stepped into the living room and looked at her.

"I warned you."

Lisa rolled her eyes. She saw him walk over and crouch down in front of her. He reached up and pulled the duct tape slowly off her mouth, his hand brushing the area around her lips and underneath her nose.

"My aunt is going to come looking for me."

Jackson shrugged. "It could take her awhile."

Lisa pursed her lips and Jackson knew she was already trying to find some way of escape. "You're not going anywhere, Leese. I can't trust you not to turn me in."

"Oh God," Lisa spat, once again oddly disappointed. "I won't turn you in. Just let me go."

"Do you honestly think I'm that stupid?"

"Yes," Lisa glared challengingly into Jackson's eyes. They narrowed.

"You do _not_ want to start this again, Leese."

"Don't tell me what I want."

Jackson cocked his head and she could've sworn that he leaned in towards her. And then he got up and went into the kitchen and came back with a small knife. He cut her ties and she rubbed her wrists and stood up gingerly. She stumbled slightly and Jackson caught her, one hand at her waist and the other at her arm. Lisa's eyes widened.

"Promise you won't turn me in?" Jackson asked huskily, quietly, his grip on her tightening slightly. Lisa felt his thumb brush against her arm and jumped away.

She darted out the back sliding door, running all the way back to her aunt's house, the SOLD sticker blowing against her knees and finally becoming stuck to her shoe when she reached the sidewalk.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for all the reviews! They make me so happy that I float. Haha.**

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Chapter 5 **

Lisa collapsed on the couch, breathless. Her mind hadn't even begun to fix on what had just happened when she heard the door open again. Lisa sat bolt upright. Jackson! He had come after her, he—

"Hi, Annie. Did you… you have a good time at Bette's?" Lisa crushed her hands into fists at her sides to stop them from shaking and took a shuddering breath.

Annie answered her from the kitchen and Lisa could hear the water running. She numbly collapsed against the couch and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and, unbidden, the image of Jackson leaning towards her lips appeared. A zip shot up through her stomach and she squeezed her eyes very tightly together. "Lisa?" her aunt called from the kitchen and Lisa leapt up from the couch, her head pounding again. "Could you go to the grocery store for me real quick? I don't know how, but we're already all out of orange juice!"

Lisa felt her lips twitch at the way Jackson had looked, drenched in orange juice. And then her eyes widened in disgust at herself, her thoughts and she hurried into the kitchen and grabbed her keys. "Thanks," said Annie, preoccupied with whatever she was cooking.

As Lisa drove mindlessly to the grocery store, her brain hooked on one thing. Jake would be there. And Jackson wouldn't, he was obviously already home. Lisa licked her lips and shook her head, trying to clear it. Jake, think about Jake, not Jackson… Think about Jackson… Lisa parked at the grocery store and rested her head on the steering wheel. "I _hate_ you, Jackson," Lisa murmured into the leather. "I _hate_ you." She rubbed the back of her head to remind herself of the bump he had put there. She firmly put him from her mind and stepped out of the car.

Lisa found her carton of orange juice and then scanned the checkout counters. "Is Jake working right now?" she asked as she set the orange juice on the counter at a checkout. The cashier shook her head. "No, he's off evenings now; we've finally found another cashier. It's a relief for us all." Lisa smiled and nodded, inwardly feeling disappointed.

When she reached her car, she stared out the windshield for a moment before starting it. So her date with Jake was tomorrow. And she hadn't seen him since two days ago. And that had been the first time since what…? The rape. Suddenly it seemed important to Lisa to talk to him, to assure herself that he hadn't changed, that Jackson had not been right, that Jake wasn't jealous… Because an odd memory of how Jake had acted towards one of Lisa's friends in the past, his girlfriend, then, had resurfaced in Lisa's mind and she wanted it gone. Now.

- - - -

Jackson opened his fridge and then shut it again, the image of Lisa suddenly popping into his mind with such force that he felt his eyes widen. His mouth tingled as he remembered how he had almost kissed her. Jackson forcibly opened the fridge again. Well, that was alright. He could want to kiss her. That was okay. She was attractive. Who wouldn't want to kiss her? Obviously Jake did… And she would let him. She would have no problem with him. Suddenly angry, Jackson slammed the bowl of leftover soup he was holding down on the counter.

Wait a minute. Logic came back again. Who cared about Lisa Reisart? Jackson didn't. He found her interesting, that was all. And attractive. And sure, yeah, Jake was a loser. Someone like him didn't deserve a girl who could kick Jackson Rippner's ass. Jackson roughly shoved the bowl in the microwave above the stove. He began to feel angry at Lisa again. She had sent him to the hospital, made him lose his job, and she had bad taste in men. Total shit taste. Jackson felt his lips tingle again. How did she taste? The timer went off on the microwave and Jackson jumped. He had left practically all of his furniture at his old home, not wanting to hire a U-Haul and provide any easier links for his company to track him down with, should the need for them to do that arise. He hopped up on the counter and stirred his soup. In his mind, Lisa wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, and he ran his fingers through her soft hair, and she…

- - - -

"Jake?"

"Hey! Lisa! How are you?"

Lisa wrapped the comforter around her tighter. "I'm good," she said slowly.

"What did you do today?"

Lisa stared at her fingernails for a second. "Nothing," she sighed.

"Oh. God, we hired this new guy at Mark's about a week ago, Jackson Robinson? He's… He said he knew you."

Inwardly Lisa scoffed. Jackson Robinson. Oh brother. "Yeah."

"I didn't know you knew him."

"Yeah, we were old… er… college buddies."

"Really? Anything I should… know about that?" Jake laughed in a way that greatly annoyed Lisa.

"Umm, Jake, is there a reason you're giving me the third degree here?"

"No, no, sorry…" Jake sounded flustered and quickly changed the subject. They went on to talk about little, inconsequential things and by the end of their conversation Lisa was feeling quite relieved. For a moment there, she had almost thought that Jackson might've been right. She went to sleep looking forwards to her date.

Lisa woke up in the middle of the night with the covers twisted around her, hardly able to breathe. She kicked the blankets off of her and stumbled from the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. She got a glass of water and sat down at the kitchen table. God, it was hot tonight. She looked at the lit-up clock on the oven and chewed her lip. Three a.m. Lisa finished the rest of her water and started towards the stairs again, trying to remember her dream and unable to. The bed squeaked under her as she lay down on top of the sheets, staring at the ceiling and waiting for sleep. She rolled over and looked at her clock ten minutes later. Lisa tiptoed down the stairs for the second time and slipped out the front door, locking it and tucking the key in her pocket. The Florida air was still warm and muggy and Lisa could feel the static from the approaching storm. She would just take a small walk, until she felt sleepy again.

The street was lit dimly by streetlights and Lisa took a right at the end of the driveway, towards the brighter part of the road. Vaguely, she wondered if this was very smart, but Cove Springs wasn't Miami. She was safe. And if anyone came up to her, she could… could… gouge their eyes out with her house key.

She walked to the end of the street and then turned around and started back again. As she went back towards her house, she saw some other person on the other side of the street. In the dimness she could only see that he wore boxer shorts and a white t-shirt that stood out under the streetlamps. She couldn't see his face. Probably some other poor soul with insomnia, she thought wryly. She reached her aunt's house; paused, realized she still wasn't tired, and turned around again. She went to the end of the street and passed the other person again, who was walking in the opposite direction. She was halfway back to her house again and nearing the other person when he called, "Can't sleep?"

"No," Lisa called back ruefully. The man crossed to her side of the street. He had an oddly familiar voice. "I thought I'd go walk around a little."

In the glare of a streetlight, Jackson looked down at Lisa. The static from the storm had made her hair frizz a little, and she was wearing shorts with ducks on them and a t-shirt with _Luxe Atlantic_ printed on it. She looked beautiful and cute and Jackson felt his stomach flip. "Yeah, Leese, I had the same idea." Lisa jumped and looked up at him. He stopped walking and so did she.

"No." She shook her head. "I'm dreaming."

"Oh, you dream about me? How sweet," Jackson grinned. Lisa glared at him.

"I have _nightmares_ about you."

"But you still are dreaming of me. I'm in your head."

"Oh, go away," Lisa started walking towards her house again, the key clenched in her fist.

"You always say that," Jackson said, trotting to catch up with her. "So, your date with Jakey is tomorrow? Are you nervous?"

Lisa whirled around to face him. "How do you even know about that? Still keeping up on your stalker duties?"

Jackson looked down on her seriously. "I work with Jakey, for your information."

"His name's not 'Jakey'."

"Sure."

"Okay, _Jack._"

Jackson grabbed her arm and stopped her. "I really hate it when you call me that," he murmured. "It's like you're going out of your way to be annoying, when really you don't need to even try." Lisa stared stubbornly up into his eyes.

"Good," she muttered. And then she wrenched her arm from his grip and started walking again. Jackson grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back again. She struggled against him and pried at the arms that were wrapped over her stomach. She forgot that she could scream.

"Lisa," Jackson whispered suddenly, fiercely. "Lisa, Leese… Just stop it."

And she did. Weak from the feeling of him so close, she felt her knees almost buckle, felt her body want to him to hold her and support her. She sagged against him, her mind blaming her tiredness and her body knowing otherwise. "Jackson, I…" Her hands were still on top of his wrists.

"We've both gone crazy," he whispered. "I'm crazy. You're crazy. Accept it."

"No…"

Jackson let his lips rest on the top of her ear. In the glow of the streetlamp, her eyes closed. Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance. The first drops of rain began to fall and Lisa snuggled against Jackson's warm chest. He let his lips rest lightly on her temple. She lifted up his fingers and slid her hand between the two on her waist and twined her fingers through his. Rain began to fall harder. Jackson shielded Lisa from it. She turned around slowly, staring up at Jackson in a kind of surprised wonder. He brought his hands to her face and both watched each other. Slowly, cautiously, Jackson's mouth descended towards hers and Lisa found herself leaning forwards. The rain poured down around them. The kiss was a wave, carrying them away. Floating away from earth with only each other to cling to.

Finally they drifted apart, separated by the vast emptiness of space, and they fell back down. Lisa became aware of Jackson's warm hands threaded through her soaked hair, of her warm lips, and she shook her head and blinked and stared somewhere over Jackson's shoulder. He felt his heart sink down and didn't know why. Wordlessly she turned around and began to walk away. Jackson's arm was still around her waist and his hand brushed hers. She stopped and looked back at him. His hair was dripping and his shirt was plastered around him, and he watched her gaze at him.

He said nothing, just stood in the rain, his arms crossed over his chest. Lisa took a step towards him, her mind searching for words that never came. He turned and walked away. Lisa stared down at the rain soaked pavement for a moment and then turned and walked slowly back to her house.

Lisa slipped silently in and stood numbly in front of the mirror in her room for a moment, looking at her completely drenched form. Then she yanked off her clothes and balled them up in the hamper, slipped into dry ones, and huddled up in her bed. The rain hammered down on the house. Lisa felt something wet trickle down her cheek and realized she was crying.

When Lisa woke up, rain was still drifting down the windows like tears. She felt a vague relief. Her date with Jake would have to be canceled, there was no way they could see a drive-in movie in the rain. She got out of bed and started towards the shower. Then she saw the pool of water around the wet clothes in her laundry hamper and stopped as an image of Jackson appeared in her brain. Lisa felt something seem to pierce her throat. She stared questioningly at the hamper. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom and mopped up the water on the floor and then dumped her clothes in the washing machine. Lisa hopped into the shower wondering why she still felt so cold.

- - - -

"Hey, Jake, it's Lisa."

"Hello! Looking forwards to our movie?"

"Jake. It's pouring down rain outside."

"That's okay," Jake said, peeling his orange and wondering at the odd tone of her voice. He was on his lunch break and luckily alone in the little back room that was classified as a 'lounge.' Jackson was the only other employee who ever stayed for lunch. Jake hoped he didn't come in for awhile. "We'll roll up the windows. It'll be cozy."

"But can they still show the movie when it's raining? Won't that hurt the screen?" Lisa asked doubtfully.

"You sound like you're not very excited," Jake observed, throwing his orange peel into the trash.

Lisa closed her eyes and then opened them again. What was she doing? "No… I was just wondering."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

"Yeah."

Lisa watched her aunt run into the kitchen, fill a pan with water, jump, and then run out of the kitchen again. She laughed. Then she realized Jake was still talking.

"…Jackson, and--"

"What?"

Jake sounded annoyed. "I was just saying that that new guy, Jackson Robinson, is kind of… strange. Did you know he has a BMW? Who owns a BMW and works at a grocery store?"

"I don't know. Look, Jake, I don't know if I can go see the movie today…"

"Why not?"

"Er… well…" Lisa inwardly kicked herself. She felt sort of low and weak. Was this loner Lisa, coming back? "Never mind, I thought my aunt had something going on, I was wrong."

"Okay…" Jake said coolly. "I've got to go, get back to work and stuff. See you." He hung up slowly. She had seemed sort of reluctant about the date… Jackson walked into the lounge and Jake was jolted from his thoughts. Jake's eyes flickered to him. _Yeah, me and Lisa go way back…_ Jake felt a spurt of jealousy grow inside of him. _He_ was the one who went 'way back' with Lisa. He regarded Jackson suspiciously.

"You talked to Lisa at all lately?" Jake asked, clearing away the rest of his lunch, his eyes on Jackson. Jackson stiffened. His eyes moved slowly up to Jake and he swallowed. Jake saw a small pink-red scar at the base of Jackson's neck rise and fall. "Sort of," Jackson said clearly. "Why?"

Jake's gaze sharpened. "Just wondering." He walked hurriedly out the door. He was at his register when he stopped. A little jealous voice told him there was something he was missing here.

Jackson stared down at his yogurt and poked at it. How in the world could Lisa like that idiot? Logic interrupted his thoughts and he laughed at himself. He had thought that this kind of life would always be beneath him, and yet here he was, wrapped up in it.

Lisa leaned her chin on her hand and stared at the old video player under the television. _What is wrong with me?_ All she wanted to do was move on, but some little part of her kept backpedaling when the opportunity came. _I'm not as strong as I think._ Going on a date with Jake would be safe. Why was she trying to escape it? _Maybe I don't want to go…_

Annie walked into the living room and saw her niece. She took in Lisa's appearance and sat down on the couch next to her. Lisa looked up, startled, and attempted to put on a happier expression.

"I'm not buying it," Annie said, her lips twitching. "Don't you try and hide your issues from me, young lady."

Lisa rolled her eyes and laughed weakly. Annie curled up on the end of the couch, taking off her cat-eye glasses and wiping them on her shirt. "So… What's going on? I'm sorry I've been so busy and haven't had a chance to be with you much." Lisa leaned her head against the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling.

"Do you remember Jake?"

"Jake… Jake Browning? Old friend Jake? What about him?"

"He asked me out."

Annie chewed the inside of her lip and surveyed her niece. "Oh?"

"Yeah. And it was just a day after the very first day I got here. That's kinda weird, isn't it?"

"Well, do you think it is?"

"Yes! I mean, no, maybe not, but I… You know," Lisa finished lamely.

Annie shook her head. "You know what I think? I think you're uncomfortable about this date, and it has nothing to do with the rape--" Lisa cringed at the word "—or the time that Jake asked you."

Lisa was silent, considering. With a jolt Jackson suddenly appeared in her mind. She unconsciously blinked several times, trying to erase him. Annie saw this and chewed her lip. She still suspected that Lisa had left out a lot in her story about the attempted assassination. "So, Lisa," Annie began tentatively. "Has Mr. Keefe told you if they've caught that Jackson Rippner yet?"

Lisa closed her eyes. "No," she said quietly. "No, he has not." _I could call the police and Jackson would be gone…_ Lisa opened her eyes and got up. "Never mind," she said lightly, avoiding her aunt's gaze. "I'm probably just nervous." _I've been hiding for so long._

- - - -

Lisa stood in front of the vanity mirror in her pink bedroom. Her aunt had just left for book club. Lisa decided that when she got back to Miami, she was going to become as involved in other activities as Annie. It would keep her from being lonely. Someone knocked on the door downstairs and Lisa grabbed her purse and started down the steps.

"He--"

Jackson stood in her doorway, raindrops spattered on his shoulders, his hair slightly damp. Lisa blinked at him. "Er… Hello."

Jackson looked down at her. "Hi," he said quietly. They both stared at each other. Truthfully, Jackson didn't know what he was thinking. In the back of his mind, there was some half-assed plan that involved stopping Lisa's date with loser boy. But logic kept asking why he cared about that.

"What are... what are you, um… doing here?" Lisa asked awkwardly.

_Good question._ Jackson watched her fiddle with her purse. And then he realized that she was probably wishing he would leave, get out of the way, so she could go on her date, and he felt irrationally angry and disappointed. "Don't be rude, Leese."

"Jackson," Lisa said exasperatedly, trying to mask her discomfort. "Really, what do you want?"

"I need to borrow some butter," he said sarcastically.

"Jack."

"Leese."

"Get out of my aunt's house."

"No."

"I'll call the police."

"I bet you will." Jackson scoffed. He pushed past her and sat down on the couch. Lisa's mouth dropped open.

"What is _wrong_ with you?"

Jackson smirked and turned to her. "Go call the cops, Leese."

"Okay then," Lisa went into the kitchen and came back with the phone, the cord of it stretched around the kitchen doorway. "I'm dialing…" she taunted. Jackson rested his head on the top of the couch and stared at the ceiling, much the same way Lisa had earlier.

Lisa got as far as the nine-one- when she stopped. Her finger hovered over the next one. She looked up at Jackson.

"You can't do it, can you?" he asked, still staring at the ceiling.

"This is a trick," Lisa spat. "How do I know you haven't rigged my phone? Maybe I'm really dialing your house or something." Jackson laughed and got up from the couch and took the phone from her hands. He hung it up in the kitchen and she followed him. Jackson turned around and looked at her. Lisa froze. She felt her heart speed up. He took a step towards her. Loud knocking came from the front door.

Jackson stiffened. "That's Jake?"

"Ye… Probably."

Jackson watched her for a moment. Lisa looked up at the ceiling and then out the kitchen window. "Go get the door, Leese," Jackson said quietly. Lisa found that her feet weren't capable of movement. "Go," Jackson said harshly. "Go. Go on your date. Bye." He went out the kitchen door and didn't look back. The doorbell echoed suddenly and almost violently through the house and Lisa jumped. She went and opened the front door, her purse hanging loosely in her hand.

"Hi." Jake smiled at her and Lisa looked over his shoulder for Jackson. But he had already gone around the corner and she couldn't see him. She followed Jake out to his old blue Datsun truck and inwardly groaned.

"Jake, I remember this car from when I was thirteen. Please tell me your dad didn't give you this."

Jake started the engine and grinned. "Yep, he gave it to me. Isn't she a beauty?"

"Er… I like the holes in the floor."

"Oh, those are because there's a leak in the roof, and one time it flooded in here, so I drilled the holes. It helps a lot."

Lisa watched the rain stream down the windows and felt something wet trickle down her neck. She winced and leaned forwards. "Jake, where _is_ the leak in the roof?" He shrugged and glanced at her. "I plugged it awhile ago, didn't want it to mildew in here." Lisa chewed her lip.

"I think there's another one above me."

"Oh," Jake said, his focus back on the road. "That sucks."

Lisa turned awkwardly and looked at him. She could see the water dripping from a spot just above her seat. She opened and closed her mouth indignantly. He felt her stare and glanced back at her. "So, have you talked to anyone else around here in awhile?"

Lisa looked back at the leak again. "Not really, I've been pretty busy in Miami at the Luxe and everything. Do you have anything you could plug that hole with?"

Jake reached over awkwardly and felt around on the ceiling for it. "I don't feel anything," he commented.

"It's right there," Lisa guided his hand to the hole.

"Oh," Jake said. He brought his hand away and built up water poured heavily onto Lisa's seat. She scooted farther forwards, half off the seat now. "There's some duct tape in the back, I think." While Lisa rummaged around awkwardly, trying to avoid the leak and not succeeding, Jake said, "So, were you at the hotel during that attempted assassination on Keefe?"

Lisa stiffened. "No," she said shortly. She loudly ripped a piece of duct tape off the roll. Jake rounded a corner and the water from the leak blew on Lisa's face.

"That was lucky," Jake said. "I would've been really scared if I had been there. But I heard the one of the guys responsible for it escaped from the hospital! Is that true?" Lisa pounded duct tape on the hole and mumbled something. She could feel Jackson's arms suddenly around her again, smell him, and she was confused. "What?" Jake asked again.

"Yes," Lisa murmured, tentatively feeling the wet seat with her fingertips. "Yes, it's true."

Jake pulled to a stop outside the red ticket booth and bought tickets. There weren't many cars parked on the large grass area, and Lisa bet that the cars that were probably didn't have holes in their roofs. Jake set the little sound box on the dashboard. The rain continued to pour down from the darkening sky. Lisa tried to get comfortable on the edge of the seat as the beginning ads came on. "Jake, my, er, seat is really wet."

"Oh. Do you want some Red Vines?" Jake ripped open the package and held it out to Lisa.

"Thanks… But do you have anything I could dry my seat with?"

Jake sighed. "Maybe behind the seat." Lisa waited for him to hand her something, but he continued to stare at the opening ads. She pursed her lips and felt around for something. She found nothing. "So," Jake said, tapping his chin with a Red Vine, "Do you know that Jackson guy really well?"

Lisa felt her jaw clench. "You're always asking me about him," she tried to say lightly. Jake turned and looked at her.

"Am I really? He told me that you two were really good friends, I guess I must be jealous," Jake laughed. Lisa stared out her window. "Because, you know, we've known each other so long; don't want Jackson taking my place…" Lisa perched precariously on the edge of the seat and sent the windshield a death stare.

_Why am I so uncomfortable if we're 'such good friends'?_ "Jake--" Sudden sound erupted from the box and drowned out Lisa's voice. Lisa jumped and fell off the seat. She saw a crumpled napkin under the seat and grabbed it and tried to blot up the water with it, but the napkin just shredded. "Hey, they have more of those at the concession stand," Jake said vaguely, his eyes on the movie. "Could you go get me a couple?"

Lisa seized the excuse for escape and leapt from the car, pulling her sweatshirt hood up over her head. She ran through the rain and towards the bathrooms next to the concession stand. She ran her hands through the warm water at the sink and sighed. She was cold, her sweatshirt was damp and uncomfortable, and she wanted to go home. She thought of the easy friendship she had had with Jake that now seemed so long ago. _People change,_ Lisa thought disappointedly. For some reason, she had sort of believed that since the town was the same, everyone in it would be too. _Well, that was stupid._

_My old friend is so… different,_ Lisa thought sadly. _I guess I am too._

She pulled her hood back up and went over to the concession stand. It was completely dark now and Lisa could hardly see a thing. She got a wad of napkins and headed back towards the car. She handed Jake the napkins and then realized that the duct tape had become unstuck and there was even more water on her seat. Lisa pounded the tape back on and scrubbed at the water with the napkins. It didn't help at all.

The movie was one of those guy-flicks, all explosions and girls in bikinis and plotlines that were so complicated it would simplify them just to say they didn't make sense. Lisa perched on the edge of the seat and stared at the screen without seeing it. _Why did Jackson walk away like that? Why did he come to my house?_

When they finally reached her aunt's house again, Jake stopped the car at the end of the driveway. He turned and looked at Lisa. "Well, thank you," Lisa said, fumbling for her purse.

"We should do this again sometime," Jake said. He leaned over and gave Lisa a hug. She pulled back quickly and opened the car door. "Thank you," she said, nodding, and ran down the driveway. She heard Jake's car drive away and wrenched open the front door.

"So how was your—What happened?" Annie asked incredulously.

Lisa stumbled up the stairs on cramped legs. "Taking a shower. Tell you later."

**

* * *

A/N: I've rewritten this damn thing at least eight times, hopefully I won't have to again. If you think I need to add anything, please please tell me. Also, I'm not sure if the emergency number in Florida is 911, so sorry if that's wrong. **


	6. Chapter 6 EDITED!

**This chapter has been changed!**

**I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. I would advise all of my lovely wonderful readers to read this chapter again, as it is much different. Thank you so much for reviewing. **

**Chapter 6**

Lisa sat on the edge of a long dock that extended out into the ocean and poked her toe at the water. Waves lapped past her and slapped quietly on the sand. The sun was setting and had bathed the water in a purple hue. She felt oddly empty and disappointed, and didn't want to find out why. Something told her it didn't have much to do with Jake. A week had passed since that awful date, anyway. Yesterday Lisa and her aunt had spread Earl the Unfaithful Husband's ashes in the water at this very beach.

- - - -

Annie had suggested a landfill.

Lisa paused, staring at the urn. She shook her head. "No…"

"Well where then?" Annie asked. "Maybe we could just sort of scatter them around. You know, a little at the neighbors, a little at that bakery he liked…"

Lisa grinned slightly, and a picture of her uncle, sitting in the old lawn chair that used to rest behind the house appeared in her mind. She had never really known him that well. Earl had never really taken interest in Lisa's life, just sort of lurked back in the shadows. _Why bother?_ Lisa thought. And then she felt sick with herself.

"Annie," she said quietly. "Did you love him?"

Annie looked up, startled. "Of course I loved him. But he was… he didn't love me the same way. And I knew it. And a person can only put up with so much disappointment for so long, you know?"

"I know," Lisa said quietly. "Why don't we scatter his ashes in the ocean? We're… we're only lowering ourselves to his level if we do this without respect."

They drove down to the beach, the urn perched precariously in a cup holder. Silently both stepped from the car, Annie holding the urn fragilely, and they began to walk along the beach. It was a windy day and they didn't pass many people. Annie took off her shoes and stopped and set them in the sand, along with the lid from the urn, and Lisa followed suit. Together they waded into the waves. Lisa knew Annie was remembering, reflecting, and she found that she wanted to but couldn't. There was nothing to reflect on. She only knew Annie's image of Earl.

The ashes were soft in her fingers and the water was warm as it lapped against her knees. Lisa watched the breeze blow the ashes out of her hand and into a fine mist. After awhile, Annie felt the bottom of the clay urn, and she tipped it upside down and shook it over the water. "All gone." She gave Lisa a watery smile. They waded back out of the water, Lisa rolling up her pant legs to avoid the sand sticking to them. Annie took off her glasses and surreptitiously wiped her eyes. "I'm so glad you're here, Lisa," she said quietly. Lisa gave her a hug. Annie's dyed brown hair tickled her cheek.

They buried the urn in a shallow pit of sand and started back up the beach, Lisa swinging her shoes at her side. The breeze whipped her hair around her as they reached the parking lot and as she brushed it away; her eyes fell on a man walking along the beach towards them. He looked up and at her and Lisa stopped. And then she looked back down at the ground and started walking again. Annie started the car and Lisa watched Jackson's retreating back until she could no longer see it.

- - - -

Lisa splashed water on her other foot and wished Jackson would fade out of her brain the same way he had faded out of her vision yesterday. She heard footsteps down at the other end of the dock and stiffened. She really didn't want to talk to anyone right now. She stared straight ahead of her and the footsteps came closer. They stopped right behind her. Lisa didn't move. _This is me being unfriendly,_ she hissed telepathically. _You're stupid if you can't figure this out, please go away, go away…_

"Hi," Jackson said quietly. He sat down next to her on the end of the dock. Lisa found the warm feeling of that kiss reappearing somewhere in her mind. The memory wrapped around her and made her feel oddly safe. Lisa reminded herself forcefully of the evil Jackson and tried not to notice that those memories seemed fainter. She stared at the setting sun until her eyes watered. Jackson looked at her. "You're not supposed to look at the sun, you know."

Lisa blinked and looked away. Jackson picked up a small stone resting on the dock and threw it into the water. It skipped once. Lisa opened and closed her mouth and then turned and looked at him. He was looking out at the ocean and the sunlight had washed over his face. Lisa looked away again. "What're you doing here?"

Jackson glanced at her. "What am I doing? Sitting on a wooden dock with Lisa Reisart." His voice took on the tone of an announcer. "She doesn't seem to be enjoying my company though; perhaps I should leave before she gets violent." He grinned. Lisa glared at him for a moment and then rolled her eyes and her lips twitched. Jackson lay back on the dock, his knees still bent over the edge and his hands behind his head. He looked up at her and grinned again. "So, how's Jakey?"

"How're your bullet wounds?"

"I asked first."

"I don't know a Jakey," Lisa said, staring at the ocean and trying to keep a straight face. "I'm sure he must exist though, since you keep asking me about him."

Jackson laughed. He sat up and gazed at her. Lisa looked at him and looked away, and then back again. She gave a little awkward smile. Jackson felt something in his chest twist. Simple attraction warred with something more complicated he was afraid of. It threatened him and he found himself suddenly angry. "You know, Leese, you really shouldn't kiss guys that you aren't going on dates with."

The warmth in Lisa's eyes faded out. For a moment she almost looked disappointed and Jackson felt his chest twist even more. And then she said, "Yeah, well most murderers don't keep pictures of their _mommies_ by their beds, either."

"I would add that most people don't go snooping in supposedly empty houses too, Leese. You must be pretty obsessed with Jake to do that. I hope you're very happy together," Jackson said snidely.

"Oh, you're back to him again? Let me guess, you're gonna start stalking him next? You're the one who's obsessed with him; you're always asking about him."

"And I suppose you'd rather I ask you about yourself. It really bothers you that I followed you that long, doesn't it, Leese? That you never noticed? That you don't know what I saw?"

Lisa froze, watching him. She got clumsily to her feet. Jackson watched her and then turned back to the ocean, staring at nothing in particular and letting his last words soak silently in the air.

"You don't want to be known that well, do you?" Jackson turned around and stood up, facing her. "There, Lisa, I've asked you some questions about yourself, why don't you answer them? Hmm?" He wanted to reach for her chin and force her to look at him, so he could enjoy this victory while it lasted, but knew better than to touch her. The waves lapped quietly against the pillars under the dock and distantly against the shore. The sun glimmered faintly before it disappeared and the sky continued to glow dully. Jackson looked down at Lisa and she looked up at him and the twisting in his chest gave a great pang.

"Jackson," Lisa said clearly, flatly, "You have stooped to a new low. What I'd really, really just like to know is why you're going to all this trouble to harass me. I guess maybe because you lost your job you think you still need someone to torture. Well, I'm done with you. So," she refused to move her eyes from his, "Stop trying to hurt me and get back at me." Jackson gazed at her, something faltering behind his eyes, silent.

"Nice speech, Leese," he finally said. He felt unnerved. The odd admiration for her was back again, combined with the twisting in his chest. Lisa looked at him and walked away. Jackson stood riveted on the dock, watching her, the feelings in his chest mixing together and into disgust. He looked away from Lisa and the feeling stayed. Her words echoed in his head.

_You're pathetic._

- - - -

An old blue Datsun rattled over potholes and up the hill that lead to the tiny Cove Springs dump. The town was too small to have garbage trucks. Jake parked outside one of the huge recycling bins and went around to the back of his truck. He had just gotten off work and the trash had been sitting in his truck all day, resulting in what most would define as a very, very bad smell. He went awkwardly up the steps to the bin, an overflowing box of newspapers in his arms. He dumped them in and began to start down the stairs again when he realized a page was still left in the box. The headline caught his eye. _Assassination Attempt on Dep. Of Homeland Security Foiled_. Jake had already read this article, but now his eyes fell on the tiny picture next to it. It showed a man with his eyes closed, having been taken while the subject was unconscious, and the caption underneath it read that this was the main suspect in the attempted assassination. Jake peered closer at the picture. Even though the man's eyes were closed, he looked oddly familiar.

Footsteps on the metal stairs made Jake jump and look up and he quickly walked back down to his car, the article still in his hand. He thought about it as he emptied the rest of the trash. Lisa worked at that hotel, didn't she? Why hadn't she returned any of his calls? They were good friends, after all… Much closer than she was with that Jackson jerk. And then Jake dropped the bag of trash he was holding. He pulled the article from his pocket and stared at the picture.

It was definitely Jackson.

- - - -

"Leese?"

"Hi, Dad." Lisa awkwardly balanced her cell phone between her shoulder and her ear while she reached for the bowl in the cupboard above her.

"Hey honey. Do you know when you're gonna be coming home? Have you found out if they caught that guy yet?"

Lisa stiffened and her hand paused above the bowl. "No, Dad, the detectives haven't called me yet. I don't know when I'll be coming home, hopefully soon," Lisa added guiltily.

"Oh. Well, anytime you want to come home, maybe stay here to throw that creep off, you know you can…" Joe trailed off.

"Dad, I'm really fine. I promise." _Lying again._ "I'm sorry Annie's not here right now, I'll tell her to give you a call, okay? I've gotta go." Her father reluctantly said goodbye and Lisa set the bowl heavily down on the counter. She didn't want to think about Jackson. For some reason he had changed in her mind, back to slightly resemble the man in the Tex-Mex. Being confronted with how much he was not was disappointment all over again, and Lisa couldn't believe she had fallen for it a second time. What in the world had taken over her brain?

…_Kiss…_

Lisa's mind shut down on that thought. Her first priority suddenly became escape. She poured cereal mindlessly, jumping when someone knocked on the door. Lisa cocked her head and turned the stove off and started towards the door. She looked through the small stained-glass window on the door but it only distorted the image of whoever was outside. She opened the door.

And then slammed it shut again.

Jackson was fast, though. He twisted the door handle before it could click shut and began to push the door back open again. Lisa dug her heels in and pushed back. "Dammit, Leese," Jackson grunted.

"What do you want?" Lisa hissed.

"Let me in and I'll tell you!"

"I don't think I want you in my aunt's house, Jack!"

Jackson stood up straight and Lisa, not expecting the loss of pressure from the other side of the door, fell against the door and it slammed shut. Jackson stared at it for a moment and then went around the house and to the kitchen door. He pushed it open and Lisa ran at him. "_Get out!_"

He grabbed her arms tightly and forcibly pushed her against the wall next to the kitchen door. "Leese, I came here to apologize to you, okay!" Lisa glared at him and shrugged. Jackson grit his teeth angrily.

"Really. Why don't you let go of me then?" Lisa glared at him and Jackson slowly took his hands off her shoulders. He continued to stand right in front of her though; oddly afraid that she would run away and prove how much she hated him. Lisa continued to glare at him for a moment and then took a deep breath. "You have five minutes to say what you're gonna say and then I'm calling the police."

Jackson looked at her for a moment. "I already told you."

"Don't push me, Jackson." Lisa took a threatening step towards him. He didn't move.

"You know that if you decide to call the police, it will only stir everything up and they still won't catch me."

Lisa's eyes flickered. "You're wrong. There's people looking for you right now and they're going to find you."

Jackson laughed. "That's why you're here, isn't it? To hide from me? How ironic." He smiled at her, closed mouth smiling.

"You're time's running out, _Jack._ What do you want?" Lisa hissed again.

"I already told you."

Lisa pursed her lips. "Time's up." She took another step forwards, around him, and he darted to the side and in front of her again. She stumbled and he caught her shoulders and then pulled his hands back quickly. They hovered over her shoulders and Jackson watched his hands, running them up and down her arms without touching her. His hand stopped next to her cheek, fingers outstretched and brushing her cheek faintly. Lisa closed her eyes and opened them again.

"I am sorry," Jackson said quietly. "You don't believe me but I am."

She stared at him. He slowly let his hand rest on her cheek. She closed her eyes again. Jackson murmured something and his breath brushed her cheek. Lisa's eyes fluttered slowly open. The moment seemed to freeze and suddenly, she was seeing things from a different position. They were clear and sharp and seemed to fit together, like puzzle pieces. Lisa suddenly had a vision of her old broken plate, broken pieces of china surrounded by dust and smaller sharp pieces. She found herself wishing it would mend and become as clear as this moment. She watched Jackson, his blue eyes going deep into hers and his other hand came up and cupped her face warmly and he brushed her cheek with his thumb lightly, rough skin against soft.

Someone knocked on the door.

The moment became a bubble and floated away.

Jackson's hands dropped and he watched her, warily now. Lisa found her arms yearning to reach out and bridge the short distance between them.

The knocking grew more insistent and Jackson half turned and looked at the door in the distance. Lisa followed his gaze. She moved to the door and opened it.

"Lisa!" Jake said urgently, stepping into the house and grabbing her shoulders. Lisa instinctively shrugged him off. His eyes flickered and then he said, brandishing the article, "That Jackson guy!" He pointed at the small picture, "That's him! He's the main suspect in Keefe's assassination! And he's here! We have to--" His eyes fell on Jackson, standing behind the couch. "What's he doing here?"

Lisa turned and looked at Jackson. "He's just leaving," she said quietly.

"No," Jackson said pleasantly, his voice not meeting his eyes, "I'd really like to hear what Jake here has to say. What am I wanted for again?"

Jake opened and closed his mouth stupidly.

"You know, Jake, generally when you find a murderer, it's probably a bad idea to announce that _in front_ of said murderer."

Jake gulped and didn't say anything. Lisa looked back and forth at both of them. Jackson's eyes fell on her and watched her intently. Finally he said, "Well, as Leese seems to be incapable of speech, I will simply say that Jake, you've found the wrong guy. Good luck on your future in the detective business." Jackson went out the front door and left Lisa alone in the living room with Jake. She smiled tightly at him. He looked around dumbly, confused.

Lisa cleared her throat. "Actually, I got a call from one of the detectives yesterday. They've found the guy and I'm going home tomorrow." She nodded slightly at the end of her sentence. The faint guilt she felt for lying quickly faded to relief as she realized she would be going back to her normal life, the life that she was looking forwards to reshaping. The life that would finally be becoming normal.

Jake left quickly after that. Lisa sat down heavily on her couch.

**A/N: Sorry once again for the annoyance factor of reposting this chapter. Also for the incredibly long wait. **


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